Words: Daryl Shuttleworth
Images: Clare McMurdo
While most of New Zealand were bunkering down indoors to avoid serious rain and hail, baking sun is what greeted drivers and race fans at Aotea Electric Riverside Speedway’s Christmas Trophy Meeting.
All grades were running for the Christmas Trophy, while Saloon Best Pairs and Southland Championships were on the line for Stockcars and invited grade Youth Ministocks.
The meeting was very much a stop – start affair, taking six hours to get through due to some very big dust issues, leading to one race being called due to lack of visibility.
The track crew had to spend a lot of time getting water into the track, then cars had to circulate before racing to ensure it was a safe enough surface. These delays soon chewed into the evening, and left a dwindling crowd by the time the meeting had concluded.
One thing this meeting didn’t lack was great on-track action.
The first two Stock Car races were run for the Christmas Trophy, where total points would determine the Race 3 grid, which was to be a one-off, twelve-lap race to determine the Southland Championship.
Heat 1 was a relatively tame affair, with one stoppage mid-race for debris. Besides that, it was a fairly clean, quick outing. Cromwell’s Luke Fallow took the flag ahead of clubmate Jacob Boulton, and Christchurch’s Luke Molloy in third.
Molloy put a massive shot on Riverside’s Adam Naber in Race 2, lining him up in Turn 1 and putting him into the concrete wall at pace. Both drove away from this, but Naber’s race was done within a few meters, parking up, eventually being towed infield, while Molloy was disqualified.
Defending Southland Champion Zach Newsham of Riverside ensured he would remain in the title fight with a race win by eight seconds over Fallow, with Riverside’s Peter Young again securing a solid result in his new car, placing third.
This result for Fallow put him at the front of the grid for the Southland Championship race. He was also be awarded the Christmas Trophy, ahead of Newsham and Boulton.
Twelve laps decided who would be the Southland Stockcar Champion, and when the green flag dropped, it was a total shock to see both Fallow and Boulton, both out of the Phantom Engineering stables, take to each other in Turn 1. This allowed several cars to sneak past, including Riverside’s Jesse Stevens-Hamilton, who got to the front from Row 3 on the grid.
Newsham was under attack and dropped to fourth, while Fallow and Boulton both tried to fight back from a disastrous start.
While this was unfolding, Stevens-Hamilton was cruising away out front, but he could soon expect company from either Fallow of Boulton as he approached lapped cars.
An unlikely hero came to the aid of the leader, his Riverside clubmate, Gary Mowat, playing the enforcer role, going after anyone who could threaten Steven-Hamilton’s lead, and he did it to perfection.
Behind, Christchurch’s Mike Rush ran second and was battling with Young. Newsham was also in striking distance, but as the race went on, cars were being spat out all over the place as Fallow and Boulton tried to get back up to the leader.
Every time they made ground, Mowat would play the spoiler, and with one lap to run, Stevens-Hamilton had a clear track in front of him and the Southland Championship in his sights.
He would hold on for his spoils, claiming the Southland Stockcar Championship, a much-deserved title for a driver who has given so much to this grade for several seasons. Mowat played a significant role in this, and, hopefully, was shouted a few drinks for his efforts.
Boulton did a remarkable job to get back up to second, as did Fallow, who placed third.
Youth Ministocks from Woodford Glen and Central Motor Speedway were at Riverside to run the Southland Youth Ministock Championship. It was a small but quality field that again put on a great show.
There was one caution for debris in Heat 1, but it was pretty much plain sailing for Christchurch’s Jack Anderton, who made Lap 2 pass on clubmate Dylan Johnston to cruise away for the win. Johnston was second and Christchurch’s Harrison Knight third, a good result with this being Knight’s first time on this track.
Anderton doubled down in Heat 2; he was simply too fast for Johnston, who again was second. Third was Danica Pickles, who looked very quick and showed she could threaten the leaders.
The big question for Heat 3 was, could anyone upstage Anderton?
He was to start from the back and had to work his way through, should he win. Johnston, however, got away to a flying start and pulled enough of a gap to hold Anderton at bay, take the win. Anderton settled for second, with Knight third.
With two wins and a runner-up result, Anderton was crowned Southland Youth Ministock Champion, with Johnston second and Knight third.
Saloon best pairs went the way of Blayr Findlay of Dunedin and Rodney McIndoe of Gisborne, while Christmas Trophy results saw Jason Gold of Cromwell take first, McIndoe second and Findlay third.
Christmas Trophy results for the supporting grades were Harrison Brown first, Danny Livingstone second and Daniel McIntosh third, all of Riverside, in Six Shooters.
Allan Finch of Dunedin won Streetstocks, while clubmate Jareb Verdoner won the runoff for second over Scott Palmer of Dunedin, who placed third overall.
Riverside’s Axton Thompson win the Youth Saloon Christmas Trophy over clubmate Lachie Robertson and Dunedin’s Max Kemp, in third.
Production Saloon’s Christmas Trophy went the way of Blake Hamilton of Riverside. Aven Erskine of Cromwell was second and Blake Murdoch of Riverside third.